Biosafety Levels

Agents (definition per CDC)

Risk Groups

Agents (definition per NIH)

1

Not known to consistently cause disease in healthy adults

1

Not associated with disease in healthy adult humans

2

Associated with human disease, hazard = percutaneous injury, ingestion, mucous membrane exposure

2

Associated with human disease which is rarely serious and for which preventive or therapeutic interventions are often available

3

Indigenous or exotic agents with potential for aerosol transmission; disease may have serious or lethal consequences

3

Associated with serious or lethal human disease for which preventive or therapeutic interventions may be available (high individual risk but low community risk)